Canada 15th in new global index on health inequality: report

In its latest report, the international aid organization World Vision is recommending that Canada take more of a leadership role in helping to reduce health inequality around the world.

In The Killer Gap: A Global Index of Health Inequality for Children, World Vision examined the health gaps in all developed and developing countries. Consistent with current research and studies, the largest gaps tend to exist in the poorest and most fragile countries. The report assessed 176 countries based on the size of the gap between citizens who have access to good health and those who don’t.

“It’s devastating that children there (fragile states like Afghanistan), are very seriously falling through the gaps and there needs to be a push to really target those communities…” said World Vision’s child policy advisor Shauna Kadyschuk.

Canada tied for 15th with Belarus, above countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. France topped the list, followed by Denmark and Norway. The nations were ranked on four indicators: life expectancy, personal cost of using health services, coverage of health service and adolescent fertility rate.

“When you look at the Canadian scene, Canada doesn’t line up very well among the OECD countries on a whole range on inequalities,” said Joe Gunn, the executive director of Citizens for Public Justice.

The effects of health inequalities in Canada, noted Gunn, will negatively influence health outcomes, education outcomes and life expectancy. To improve Canada’s standing, Gunn said Ottawa should consider reducing cuts to their foreign aid budget, including funds sent to non-governmental organizations, and the creation of a national pharmacare program.

“We will all pay the price for inequalities, whether it’s between richer countries and poorer countries, or even in Canada if people are left behind,” he added.

Despite major improvements in global health, World Vision found a significant gap between children who have access to necessary medical treatment and health care facilities and those who don’t. This difference contributes to the premature death of up to 19,000 children every day, the report said.

World Vision highlighted several causes for the gap including:

conditions in which people are born, raised, work and age

lack of equal investment in the early years

unequal employment and working conditions

high individual health care spending

gender disparities

As an established leader in maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), Kadyschuk believes Canada needs to lead the global discussion around one of the United Nation’s goals: ending preventable childhood death by 2030.

“Just building on what we are already known to be a credible voice in, so the leadership around MNCH, around accountability, and nutrition, those three things in themselves are already a great starting point,” she said in a telephone interview with iPolitics.

“We’ve already got a lot of momentum around that.”

To reduce the health inequalities, Kadyschuk believes governments need to do a better job monitoring vulnerable groups, and collecting essential data including birth and death registrations. Without adequate data collection, Kadyschuk said governments and organizations only target individuals who are easy to reach.

“If we don’t know children exist, we can’t protect or save their lives,” she said.

As the UN’s Millennium Development Goal deadline approaches, the report – like Kadyschuk – recommends countries develop a ‘gold standard’ for data collection that includes indicators such as income, disability, education, geography and ethnicity.